Several weeks passed and nothing had changed. Kelly would go to bed and wake up only to find Nick gone. She would eat dinner in front of the television by herself or at the Littrell’s. By now, they knew about her pregnancy and were thrilled. Brian tried talking to Nick about how great it is to be a father, but Nick just refused to listen…he simply didn’t want to hear about it. Kelly, more than anyone, had tried talking to Nick but he had lapsed into total muteness. Kelly wasn’t used to this at all, and it caused a searing pain in her heart. Ever since they had met, they had always talked through their problems, no matter how difficult the situation.
Generally, Kelly would cry herself to sleep and had again lost her appetite. She tried to eat because she wasn’t just feeding herself, but couldn’t. She took prenatal vitamins, but barely ate. Although she was pregnant and should’ve been gaining weight, she had only lost weight. She knew this was potentially fatal for the baby, so she had made a decision—she had to have some time away from Nick. Seeing him walk by her everyday without speaking or receiving those cold, icy glances from him periodically was something that she could no longer handle.
“Wussup?” a deep, male voice answered the telephone.
“Hi, AJ?” Kelly questioned, just to be sure she didn’t dial the wrong number.
“Yup. Who’s speaking?” he asked casually as if he got anonymous phone calls all the time.
“Hi, this is Kelly. Do you remember me?” Kelly answered meekly.
“Yeah, you’re Nick’s wife. How could I forget the sound of such a pretty voice, like yours?” he complimented, laughing lightly.
Kelly smiled and blushed slightly, even though AJ couldn’t see her. “Well, thank you. I have a favor, sort of, to ask you…” she trailed off waiting to hear his reaction.
“Aight, what can I do for ya?” he asked, interested to hear what she had to say.
“Do you still have that penthouse in New York?” Kelly asked, biting her lower lip.
“Yeah, why?” AJ responded, now that she had his attention.
“Would you mind very much if I went there to stay for a little while? I know I don’t know you very well and I’m in no position to ask you for a favor but-“ AJ cut Kelly off from her rambling.
“Sure, you can stay. You’re Nick’s wife and he’s my friend, so of course it’s no problem. There is one small thing, though,” AJ informed her.
“What’s that?” Kelly asked cautiously, afraid she may not be able to get away after all.
“Do you mind having some company?” AJ asked carefully, trying to pick the most appropriate words.
“Depends…who?” Kelly answered simply.
“Me!” AJ replied, wondering what her reply would be. “I was planning on going up there this week, myself…ya know, to get away from everything.”
“Well…” Kelly began to debate her response.
